Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch of Liverpool. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)placeholder image
Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch of Liverpool. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Arne Slot has reverted to tried and tested to find some consistency with Liverpool with a familiar engine room proving to be the foundation for success.
If goals win games and defences win championships, what do midfields do? Liverpool’s does everything, which is why it was so dominant against Real Madrid and why Arne Slot shouldn’t entertain changing it any time soon.
Should the Reds’ boss decide to rotate his team and give players like Dominik Szoboszlai a rest, the option is there to do it from the substitutes bench, rather than from the first whistle. With two clean sheets and two wins in a row, gathering some sort of momentum should be the priority for Slot instead of sharing minutes and keeping everyone happy.
Liverpool’s midfield earns rave reviews
The trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Szoboszlai works for a reason, all three are good technical players, but it is their work rate and attitude that sets them apart. They don’t just want to assist the forward line and grab the headlines, they want to do the dirty work too with former Real Madrid defender Jonathan Woodgate waxing lyrical on BBC Five Live about the Liverpool engine room: “I think when you look at the performance of the midfield, I think there's over recent weeks, there's probably been a little bit too easy to get at the Liverpool defence and they've run off the back of the players a few times.
“That hasn't happened in the last two games. It's almost like they've had a meeting between themselves and said, you've got to protect us more. You've got to make sure you're back to where you were last year. Mac Allister and Gravenberch weren't great at the start of the season.
“They've been really impressive in the last two games, but you've got to continue that form. I mean, Mac Allister was arguably, and Gravenberch, Liverpool's best players last season because of that protection they gave the back four, but also as well, the way they pressed as well and got Liverpool higher up the pitch.
“So, it's imperative that you have those two players, but then you add in Szoboszlai, I mean, wow. The energy the guy has, the recovery challenges, but then his next thing is he's getting to the edge of the penalty area, he's running up the pitch. Such an impressive performance from that guy. And don't forget, there was talk of Wirtz taking his place and he's gone, absolutely not. You are not having my place. He's all action. He's all action.”
How can Slot rotate his midfield?
What Slot has learned this week is what his strongest Liverpool XI is. If there are injuries, then players like Curtis Jones can come in or Florian Wirtz moved into a central location, but there shouldn’t be wholesale changes again or the temptation to move away from a template that has worked so well recently.
Szoboszlai is already an Anfield favourite but he now has claims to being the best player at the club. It almost seems laughable to consider him as an auxiliary right-back.
In Gravenberch, the difference between him and Jones is what they do without the ball. Jones is metronomic in possession in that he is very rarely wasteful and he provides a link between the defence and the attack, but he doesn’t cover the same ground of have the same awareness of risk as the Netherlands international.
With a more balanced team, Jones is capable of covering for Gravenberch, but he can’t anchor a midfield as effectively. Woodgate is right, it is like the three of them have decided enough is enough, which means that Liverpool will no longer be the pushovers that they have been for most of the season.
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